High dose of vitamin C, any experience?

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Hey there everyone,
For various reasons I consider trying high dosis of vitamin C. Some of them being inflammation in my body, chronic swollen lymph nodes without a clear reason, adrenal problems (low aldosterone).
And so much more, too much to name.

I was wondering about experiences of others, if you tried:
How much did you take? Which type? What did it do for you?
And are there any risks I should be aware of?

I have 250mg tables, and want to take 2 (so 500mg) every 30 minutes, until my bowels react to it. Then I stop and use that dose (slightly less) the next day.
I have ascorbic acid, which is probably not the best right? What would be better?

Loads of thanks in advance

(Edit:
Diagnosed with POTS and low aldosterone.
Chronic fatigue since I was 16, (33 now) Often have hypotension and low heart rate/bradycardie, but no adrenal insufficiency. It started after having Epstein Barr/cytomegaly virus.
Medication: Only fludrocortisone)

Severe ME, POTS & MCAS.

I would check your blood Vitamin C levels first before taking masses of Vitamin C. If you have low Vitamin C it will help, if not, you just pee it out and waste your money. Hopefully it will help you by giving you stronger immunity to common colds etc.

Senior Member

Ascorbic acid may be too acidic for your stomach, and it has the bowel tolerance issue. A better form would be liposomal vitamin C, which in my experience has neither of these side effects. Vitamin C plasma levels have been found to correlate inversely with EBV antibody levels (source), so it makes sense to trial Vitamin C if you suspect EBV.

Hoarder of biscuits

I know how great it feels to take a lot of Vitamin C. One time long ago in the middle of a cold or flu I took 22gm of Vitamin C before I ever developed diarrhea. My cold/flu symptoms felt much better. I don't recall how long I persisted in taking Vitamin C, and most of the time I took mineral ascorbates (Vitamin C bound to magnesium, calcium, zinc). Eventually I developed stress fractures in my feet. The radiologist could not explain why this was happening. He asked, "What have you been doing to your feet?" I wasn't bedbound at the time, and prior to developing the stress fractures, I was able to walk 20-30 minutes per day.

Be careful with taking excessive amounts of Vitamin C. It may be OK for the short term, but long term it will pull minerals from your body. I think I developed stress fractures due to excessive intake of Vitamin C. My bones had become depleted of minerals. Some time later when I saw a naturopath she told me to not take more than 2000mg of Vitamin C per day.

Chronic conjunctivitis (or blepharitis) can occur when higher copper stores are gradually depleted following the practice of regularly overdosing on Vitamin C

Vitamin C lowers Zinc directly, and it lowers it indirectly by supporting Iron absorption, so while a higher
intake of ascorbic acid would likely benefit those suffering from some forms of anemia, leukemia, left-sided
ovarian cysts, or from prostatitis, the same higher Vitamin C intake would worsen certain liver conditions
(hemochromatosis), benign prostatic hypertrophy, or more serious kidney diseases (renal failure).

Larger amounts of Vitamin C lower Manganese levels and aid greater insulin production in those capable of
producing insulin, which may be beneficial for Type II diabetics, but it would worsen those with hypoglycemic
tendencies that exhibit low sodium, since sodium slows insulin response, so a very high intake of Vitamin C
would create larger insulin spikes. By lowering manganese, very high doses of Vitamin C also affect (lower)
glycogen stores in the liver.

Calcium metabolism is much affected by Vitamin C intake. Patients who suffer from calcium overload
benefit from supplementing larger daily amounts of Vitamin C because they prevent calcium from calcifying
soft tissue. Low stomach acid levels are also a common side effect of elevated calcium, for which a higher
Vitamin C intake is beneficial as well.

While the right amount of ascorbic acid increases bioavailability of calcium, very high intake of Vitamin C,
if not needed, will eventually put extra demands on calcium stores (bone) and result in calcium deficiency,
which can lead to osteopenia, or eventually osteoporosis.

The "Bowel Tolerance Challenge" - recommended by some doctors - to determine the optimal intake of
Vitamin C by ingesting increasing amounts of ascorbic acid until diarrhea sets in, then reducing Vitamin C
to a tolerated dose, only measures one's tolerance to the type of ascorbate, and the amounts used, but it
does not reflect optimal Vitamin C intake to achieve optimal benefits.

Administrator

I would check your blood Vitamin C levels first before taking masses of Vitamin C. If you have low Vitamin C it will help, if not, you just pee it out and waste your money. Hopefully it will help you by giving you stronger immunity to common colds etc.

The Linus Pauling recommendation of 6-18 mg was not established scientifically. Linus Pauling Institute now recommends "only" 400 mg:

Based on the combined evidence from metabolic, pharmacokinetic, and observational studies and from randomized controlled trials, it has been argued that sufficient scientific evidence exists to support an optimum, daily vitamin C intake of at least 200 mg/day, which is substantially higher than the current RDA(11). Studies conducted at the National Institutes of Health showed that plasma and circulating cells in healthy, young subjects attained near-maximal concentrations of vitamin C at a dose of 400 mg/day (11). Because of the very high benefit-to-risk ratio of vitamin C supplementation, and to ensure tissue and body saturation of vitamin C in almost all healthy people, the Linus Pauling Institute recommends a vitamin C intake of at least 400 mg daily for adult men and women.

Only if you follow the standard assessment by giving up to 2.5 g of vitamin C while testing serum levels. And arrive at serum levels of higher intakes via extrapolation only. Any study testing levels, finds these generally accepted speculations not true:

Journal of the New Zealand Medical Association, 23-August-2002, Vol 115 No 1160

We have observed a significant "false" lowering of GHb in animals and humans supplementing ascorbic acid (AA) at multigram levels. Mice receiving ~7.5 mg/d (equivalent to > 10 g/day in a 70 kg human) exhibited no decrease in plasma glucose, but a 23% reduction in GHb.2 In humans, supplementation of AA for several months did not lower fasting plasma glucose.3,4 We studied 139 consecutive consenting non-diabetic patients in an oncology clinic. The patients had been encouraged as part of their treatment to supplement AA. Self-reported daily intake varied from 0 to 20 g/day. The plasma AA levels ranged from 11.4 to 517 µmol/L and correlated well with the reported intake. Regression analysis of their GHb and plasma AA values showed a statistically significant inverse association (eg, each 30 µmol/L increase in plasma AA concentration resulted in a decrease of 0.1 in GHb). (follow link to read further)

Senior Member

Actually my 23 g/d being the highest dose of any supplement I take, it is also the cheapest one. Widely available here in supermarkets for 1.95€ per 100g bottle. Even cheaper if one orders wholesale online. At such high doses for many years I wouldn't take pills or capsules, since they all come with fillers/binders I wouldn't want at such high doses.

To reduce costs, ‘normal’ UA test results are not usually followed up with additional confirmatory tests. However, the results of this study show that overlooking the presence of vitamin C in urine may lead to potentially serious false-negative results, especially for glucose and blood. Thus, a vitamin C-resistant strip or a strip with a vitamin C indicator is a preferred solution. For specimens positive for vitamin C, the results should be reported with a comment, such as “Vitamin C in urine can cause false-negative results for glucose and blood cells. Repeating a test after restriction of vitamin C consumption is recommended,” or the specimens should be subjected to additional follow-up analyses.

Senior Member

Does anyone know if Vit C can cause a 'detox' reaction? I take 2-3g of time-release to help me sleep; I noticed a reaction yesterday that resembled the herxes I get on certain herbs (intense apathy, brain fog, depression, GI upset). Last night I upped the dose to 5g and today I feel flu-like with a raging headache etc.

Senior Member

I never experienced detox reactions with very high doses. GI upset are usually is a sign you're getting close to bowel tolerance, which also can change a lot over time. Dr. Levy though, talks a lot about it's detox properties, for example here:

I am aware of bowel tolerance -- though my symptoms aren't restricted to the stomach, which is why I thought something else might be going on. I do know, though, that the concept of 'die-off', 'detox' etc. is a bit contested, so hence wasn't sure.